Anne Bonny Makes It Out
when you made it to the beach
was your child on your back
or left on another shore?
and which
would be harder to carry?
you learned when you were a little girl
knife slipped up your sleeve
an extraction team isn’t coming
so fight like a dog
and you won’t die like a man
adapt
and tie your red hair tight
and get a better ending
than a stone cell on a southern island
than a rope around your neck
run for the waves
with teeth bared
the riptide is no match for you
When It Comes to Admitting My Love for You
I left it too long
Like sea water sat still and briny in a bucket
The wind wasn’t blowing the right way
The sky was always red enough to warrant warning
The salt in the water was easier to choke through than the fear
The thing about a riptide is that is takes you quick
Swept from your feet without a second to think
But you and I were like low tide
Pulling me out inch by inch
Burying you up to your ankles in sand
Until any land I might once have stood with you on disappeared over the horizon
Until any step you might once have taken towards me was a distant memory
People can tread water for a long time
But eventually you have to sink or swim
Maybe I’ll meet you on the ocean floor
Halle George is a writer who spends most of the day working in advertising. She has previously been published by Wingless Dreamer Press and shortlisted for the Briefly Write Poetry Prize. She lives in Los Angeles.
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